Posted on 01/07/2014 9:07:16 PM PST by notpoliticallycorewrecked
Okay, so we have our phone listed on the Do Not Call list including the cell phone. My husbands cell phone keeps getting a call from a number we don't recognize so we don't answer it. After several calls tonight I do a reverse look-up. Sure enough this phone is from NYC and has numerous comlaints listed again it as telmarketing. I have had the phone nuxt to me for about 1 1/2 hours. This person has now called this phone 9 times. At what point does this constitute harrasment?
Back BEFORE the “Do-Not-Call” list days, and when I was single, I shared a rented townhouse with two other guys.
We kept getting, for some reason, calls from this vendor in vinyl doors and windows. Somehow, they coudn’t wrap their heads around the fact that we lived in a rental development.
Finally, sick of the near-daily calls, my housemate engaged in an hour-plus conversation, getting every tiny detail about the doors and windows, down to size, type, and color. The caller was chomping at the bit to set the appointment for this obvious big sale.
And then the roomie told the guy, ok, before we set the appointment, I want to make sure this will meet my every need, so I have one more question to ask.
The caller agreed, and asked for the final question.
“Does it come with pickles” ??
The caller boggled. “Pickles, sir ? These are vinyl doors and windows. . .pickles have nothing to do with it.”.
“Well, if there are no pickles. . . I’m not interested. And hung up. Time elapsed, well over an hour.
They never called us again. . .
1. They are using an autodialer.
2. They are also using caller ID spoofing. Upchuck Schumer called for legislation to make this illegal. That might be the only thing I may agree with him.
3. They are calling from overseas.
All this is how they “get around” the Telephone Consumers Protection Act. The worst offenders are the infamous “Rachel from Cardholder Services” (she has important information about your account!) and news that your car warranty is about to expire (right,3 months after I bought a new Toyota).
The calls typically come during office hours, otherwise I am sorely tempted to do my gangsta imitation with language NSFW. What I might do in the future then is throw back a sales pitch for Brawndo. It’s got electrolytes!
Pull the Tom Mabe act.
I don’t answer a number I don’t recognize.
Occasionally, I forget and actually answer the phone in a case like this. Then I start meowing into the phone. I can do a pretty good cat impression.
They're already breaking the law, why would they worry about hanging up on you? I remember one time when "Rachel" called me about my credit card interest rates. I hit the button to talk to a human, and a guy answered. I started to tell him about my sexual fantasies about "Rachel", and he immediately hung up.
Ah, thanks for the tip! I placed our numbers on the Do Not Call list years ago, but it doesn’t work any more......so, you have to do it repeatedly? And in nor more than 6 months? Gonna do that today!
Yeah, I got it from the same DJ......
Here's the index of the forum topics: http://800notes.com/forum/
The site's primary purpose is to act as a searchable database of spam/scam callers, with info on such vermin submitted by folks being harassed by same.
Lots of good info re current state of the art in phone technology, call blocking technology, etc .. also helpful is seeing that you're not alone in your frustration.
In my experience/opinion, the various 'do not call' registeries are typical govzilla clusterflukes.
If you're serious about nuking the spammers/scammers, you'll need to research and choose a hardware and/or software weapon to combat them.
800notes is an excellent place to start educating yourself as to options.
Googling anything is supporting the enemy. BING it.
Call your cell phone provider and have them block it.
A number of years ago, I got a tele-marketing call for replacement windows. This was pre-Do-not-call times. I was nice, but insistent that I wasn’t interested. The guy was so polite, and practically begged me to let him yammer for a few minutes because he’d get credit with his boss. I sensed an opportunity, and agreed. As he prattled on about his probably non-existent/worthless windows, I mixed in a few personal questions (Like the job? Easy to get to? etc.) hoping for a gem. He foolishly told me he lived near the place, close enough to walk to work. [MINE!!! MINE!!! I own you!!!] I casually asked what town he was in, he told me Southfield (Detroit suburb, about 2 hours from my home at the time) and even threw in that there was a K-Mart right near him. I heard the trap snap shut, told him I knew that neighborhood well. Described the plaza. “Yeah, that one,’ he says, like I’m his best friend and I’m meeting him at the bar.
Because I’m a cold-hearted, ruthless person when it comes to telemarketers, I calmly asked, “Do you have any...daughters?” Dead silence, then a click. Even the wife found this horrifically funny. I’ll bet he looked over his shoulder for quite a while.
It was over 5 years before I got another telemarketing call.
After too many calls from different numbers (caller ID usually just shows a state) with the same robo-message, I started to prompt to speak to a live person. When they answered, I blew a very loud, very long whistle. The calls subsided and eventually have stopped. But I still keep grandpas Philippine whistle handy.
re: What I might do in the future then is throw back a sales pitch for Brawndo. It’s got electrolytes!
That is great stuff! I hear that you can even water your plants with it.
You are correct about Comcast:
http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/phone/nomorobo/
Not sure why you’re paranoid. You say Comcast is your phone service and internet provider. Obviously they already have your phone number and email address.
So ... what else is new ?
Not familiar with that, what is the source for nomorobo using TCG?
Nomorobo goes by the corporate name Telephone Science Corporation and states it's privacy policy here.
Probably a debt collector robocall. I get them all the time for people I have never heard of. After many complaints and reports they still call. If you have nothing to do trolling them can be fun especially if you record them breaking the law.
Yea I've signed my lines up before a few times. I noticed a week or so after the calls stopped. So now I do it every six months or so or when calls start again.
[ They’re already breaking the law, why would they worry about hanging up on you? I remember one time when “Rachel” called me about my credit card interest rates. I hit the button to talk to a human, and a guy answered. I started to tell him about my sexual fantasies about “Rachel”, and he immediately hung up. ]
Buy a 10 dollar prepaid VISA card with cash, then use up all 10 dollars of it.
Make up a fake name and details and write them done on a yellow sticky and stick it on the card and keep in wallet...
Next time they call, troll them with it!
The laws aren’t enforced.
The NSA can illegally listen to everyones phones, but they can’t do jack crap about the robocalling idiots that constantly harass me....
Maybe next time i call maybe i should start talking about terrism related thing to Rachel from Card member services, maybe that would perk up some ears at the NSA....
Who am I fooling they would arest me and let rachel off the hook...
Create a contact with a ringtone that has a blank sound file. Then keep adding the damn numbers to it as they call you...
That helps a little...
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